IOW, this whole “outreach” program isn’t so much a product of disrespect as because they just don’t know any better.

(which doesn’t really excuse them at all. It’s just a slightly more refined explanation)

I think that is what most of those who have commented are saying. Anyone foolish enough to send these letters around are going to get the exact opposite of support for whatever candidate they like. Spouses get enough “contact” from the unit that is legitimate. Anything over the line will open up a whole can of …

NOBAMA!!!

You’ll never gain my support and my husband’s unit, which is overwhelmingly against him, will not give it either. Michelle Obummer is mistaken if her or her little minions can influence me or how I vote.

This woman had a little chat with military wives in Norfolk, VA. She may have bamboozled them but a lot of are not convinced that her husband is the best Dems can come up with.

Blue Star Family Members for Obama is made up entirely of volunteer family members of active duty service members; not the members themselves. We do not seek out active duty military members, nor do we permit our members to communicate our message to active duty members, or through them, via email, fax or any other form of official communication. Blue Star members are not permitted to use government equipment or government property to advance our cause. We have a website where people can sign up and prohibit members from seeking out spouses who are subordinates of Blue Star members’ spouses. If any of these events occur we want to know immediately so that we can take corrective action.

I don’t care what they say, that’s not how it works in the real world. As a USMC wife I can attest that the rules mean squat to some – people are going to do what people want to do, and if that means using their spouse’s rank and influence over younger and/or subordinate spouses then they will without a second’s hesitation. Not every single wife or husband acts like this, of course, but all it takes is one, and there are almost always that one couple in a unit or shop that exerts their influence inappropiately. When you consider how many of our lowest ranked guys are fresh out of high school with their newly wedded wives having just moved from momma’s bosom you can see just how much influence the unscrupulous can have.

It’s clear that — in election years, anyway — conservative concern for servicemembers and their family is largely focused on using them as a cudgel against the Democratic nominee. Obama doesn’t visit troops because the Pentagon warns him that it would be seen as “political” and he’s shallow and uncaring. Michelle does visit with military families and she’s politicizing the military.

It’s not the simple fact of Michelle “visiting” with military families which has her politicizing the military, it’s that she actually is politicizing the military… asking family members to mobilize for the campaign.

And, were BHO to have actually gone to visit the wounded troops in Germany, to pay respect to them – without any of his entourage –, there would have been less ammunition to use against him, there.

As to “using the troops as a cudgel,” it’s not really necessary, is it? When one party consistently undermines men and mission, the other party doesn’t have to go very far to demonstrate where the troops’ interests lie.

When you’re running for office, everything is political.

As a veteran we were told that the DoD does not endorse any person running for any office. While any military member can donate to anyone, actively campaigning for someone is highly discouraged because of the conflict of interest issues. Spouses of military members, while not subject to DoD regulations, DO have an impact upon a military members record. A spouse soon realises this in short order upon entering the military community.

Not only do you have a problem with the enlisted/officer spouses, there is also a problem with the lower ranks/NCO’s and junior/senior officers spouses. A spouse of a military member has unique challanges that he/she must deal with that the military member does not. Putting these folks in a position that could potentially cause harm to their spouses military carreer, is just plain wrong and should be stopped.

As a rule we (my unit and Family Readiness Groups) did not encourage anyone to attend any kind of political event, and we did not allow people to use our mailing/emailing lists for such purposes. If spouses wanted to engage in that kind of activity they did it on their own without any of our resources, and that was fine with us as long as they did not imply that their participation was endorsed by our unit.

On August 13th, 2008 at 9:43 am, dgriggs06 said:
My husband is my hero because he willingly put his life on the line to protect this country

We can never tell them that often enough, but we try anyway.

On August 13th, 2008 at 1:14 am, simcoe said:
Now, some unscrupulous group comes along, engages them in their misery and gets their minds off of their plight, feigns interest in their opinions, asks them for their help, latches on to their anger and funnels it in the direction of getting the “Hope Messiah” elected.

Reminds me of those idiot groups John McCain referenced not long after he was released from the Hanoi Hilton. These anti-war morons preyed on POW wives, telling them that if they publicly denounced the war, the group could get letters and packages to their POW. Abhorrently shameless behavior, in my book.

On August 13th, 2008 at 3:23 am, UnknownSailor said:
So few in today’s America have served or known others that have served, that these kind of unwritten rules are only known to those who are peripherally associated with US Military service members.

Like I said, the military is just different. Some people don’t understand that.

On August 13th, 2008 at 7:04 am, CO of Fort Housewife said:
We realize the risks we signed up for by marrying military men, and are proud to see them off to do what they signed up to do.

Amen to that!

Has the groups page with membership numbers, etc.